Tehran and 'Potential Candidates for Secretary of State' in Trump's Cabinet

In the U.S. executive branch, the President is the number one figure. Despite appearances, the real number two in the power structure is often considered to be the Secretary of State, a position typically held by high-ranking politicians. For those outside the U.S. who follow power shifts in the country, the new Secretary of State and their views are of great importance. In these days, as Donald Trump has recently won the 2016 election, speculation about his potential Secretary of State continues unabated. The New York Times, citing sources close to Donald Trump, reports that currently, five individuals have a better chance of assuming the position: Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House; Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Iraq, and Afghanistan; and finally, Stanley McChrystal, former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan. Among these five, Stanley McChrystal had previously been mentioned as a candidate for Vice President and at that time stated he was unwilling to accept any responsibility in Donald Trump's cabinet. He resigned from the army in 2010 following a controversial interview with the popular magazine 'Rolling Stone' and harsh criticisms of Barack Obama's soft foreign policy. He has not yet reacted to the speculation about his potential selection as Secretary of State. The other four are figures for whom the position of Secretary of State could represent a significant turning point in their political careers. All four have been strong supporters of Trump. What are their backgrounds, and what positions would they take towards Iran if they become Secretary of State? Gingrich and Regime Change Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, was a main contender for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential election but ultimately lost to Mitt Romney. He is a primary candidate for the Secretary of State position in the next U.S. cabinet; he was Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999 and in the 2016 election campaign, he strongly defended Trump. When Trump was looking for a Vice President, Gingrich's name was mentioned alongside Chris Christie and Mike Pence as one of Trump's top three options. Gingrich is a prominent Republican who has previously held positions that are completely opposed to Trump's current views on foreign policy and economics. For example, he was a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin and labeled the Russian President a dictator on his website. He also strongly supported free trade agreements like NAFTA, which Trump promised to halt on his first day in office. In recent months, Gingrich has somewhat moderated his positions but still insists that Russia's role in Syria is not fighting the Islamic State but supporting Bashar al-Assad. In the 1990s, he supported U.S. military intervention in the Balkan wars and is also considered a supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which does not align with Trump's stance. Regarding Iran, Gingrich has been mentioned in Persian media in connection with the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization's promotional rallies, where he has spoken. His general position in these speeches has been that the U.S. should support regime change in Iran, with the Mujahedin-e Khalq playing a key role in this confrontation. He has never addressed the sharp criticisms directed at the Mujahedin-e Khalq and instead refers to them as a freedom-seeking group. Gingrich opposed the nuclear negotiations and believed that the U.S. approach to Iran's nuclear program was misguided. Corker the Notorious Bob Corker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is another name mentioned for the Secretary of State position, and he is well-known among Iranians. He played a significant role in the debate between Barack Obama's administration and Congress over the nuclear deal with Iran. Like his fellow Republicans, Corker is a critic of the JCPOA or the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. However, some conservative websites argue that he has undermined the hardliners in Congress and paved the way for Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. This criticism stems from changes Corker made to the congressional review of the nuclear agreement. His changes allowed Democrats to support it, leading to a significant majority vote, but the provisions related to rejecting the nuclear agreement were removed by a slim majority in the Senate. Thus, Republicans needed a two-thirds vote to reject the nuclear deal and, when it became clear that more than a third of senators supported the JCPOA, the legal path to dismantling it in Congress was closed. However, this does not mean that Corker has a soft stance towards Iran. He believes the JCPOA must be strictly enforced and argues that Iran has violated it by testing ballistic missiles, and the U.S. should impose new sanctions on Iran due to its missile program. He is also a staunch supporter of Israel and believes the U.S. should pressure its Arab allies to end their boycott of Israel while supporting U.S. financial aid to Mahmoud Abbas and empowering the Palestinian Authority. John Bolton and the Iran Issue John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006 during George W. Bush's presidency, is another name mentioned for the Secretary of State position. He is a critic of the JCPOA and opposes cooperation with Russia in the Syrian crisis. Although Bolton may not have been as prominent in Persian media as Corker in recent years, he has frequently referenced Iran in his analyses. Bolton is one of the most hardline opponents of the nuclear agreement and has consistently argued that the Iranian regime is the biggest problem in the Middle East, with its policies contributing to insecurity in Iraq and Syria. On the same day his name was mentioned for the Secretary of State position, he retweeted an old interview in which he harshly criticized the JCPOA. During the election, while supporting Trump, he did not shy away from critically analyzing the policies of the Islamic Republic in Iran. For example, he recently stated that the ultimate loser in the battle for Mosul against ISIS would be ISIS, while the main winner would be Iran. He has also been seen at gatherings of the Mujahedin-e Khalq. However, not all of Bolton's positions align with Trump's, particularly regarding how to deal with Vladimir Putin. Bolton has been a serious critic of Putin and has consistently maintained that the U.S. should show sufficient firmness against Russia. In a pre-election interview with Fox News, he stated that while he welcomes the idea of negotiating and cooperating with Putin, the U.S. should not cooperate with Russia in the fight against ISIS, as it would only benefit Bashar al-Assad. Zalmay Khalilzad and His Relations Zalmay Khalilzad, of Afghan descent, was a prominent diplomat in George W. Bush's administration. His key missions included serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations from 2003 to 2009. Khalilzad has a completely different background from the other three candidates. He was one of the few from the Bush circle who joined Trump's campaign and explained his reasons for support in a speech before Trump took the stage. Khalilzad believes that America's standing in the world has been undermined, benefiting repressive regimes that seek to undermine citizens' freedoms. He also stated that the continuation of the status quo undermines the global order established after World War II, which he believes is not in the world's interest. Among the potential candidates for Secretary of State, Khalilzad may be the only one who not only does not have harsh positions against Iran but also has a unique history of relations with senior Iranian officials. As he wrote in his memoir 'The Envoy,' during his ambassadorship in Afghanistan and on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, he contacted Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's then-representative to the United Nations, and managed to secure a guarantee from Iran that if U.S. fighter jets mistakenly entered Iranian airspace, Iran would not respond. He also mentioned in the same book that during his ambassadorship in Baghdad, he had contacts with Iranian officials, including Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Khalilzad states that during that period, he attempted to establish more serious relations with Tehran and ultimately succeeded in getting George W. Bush's permission for an official meeting between him and Tehran's envoys. He then conveyed a message to Ayatollah Khamenei through Abdul Aziz Hakim, and Khamenei granted permission for this meeting, but at the last minute, he was suddenly ordered from Washington not to attend, which increased Khamenei's distrust of the Americans. With such a background and deep familiarity with the culture and language of Iran and Afghanistan, if he were to become Secretary of State, he would be in a unique position regarding these two countries, unlike Trump's other options for the position.